Fair Maiden
by Lacklusterpanic
Summary: Murdock saves a girl on the streets of LA. Months later in the backwoods of California he meets her again, but he isn't the only one with a connection to her.


**Hey guy! I have been sort of playing with this for awhile in my head, and i can't seem to write my other stories until i at least get some of this down. This is basically a prologue for the actual story (which will probably only be a few chapters long). Constructive Criticism is seriously welcomed! Also yeah i know that the virgin part is really random, but i am sort of hoping to get the next part of the story started with Murdock in complete confusion about who she is, how old she is, etc. :) Also, i don't feel like finding actual translations, so other spoken languages will be in italics. **

* * *

Adrenalin was rushing through the girls veins as she slammed herself, and the man holding her from behind, into the alleys brick wall. His head thudded hard and his grip loosened on her arms. One man already was down on the ground, clutching his crotch and whimpering. Two more stood in front of her, leering.

Her foot made contact with the fat ones chest as she jerked herself from the one behind hers arms. A well placed elbow to his head and he too was out for the count. But her foot was seized almost immediately by the fat guy, and she was thrown off balance as the smaller man in front of her grabbed her arms. Fat-man punched her lip hard, and immediately she could taste the blood. That concern was immediately forgotten as a knife went to her neck. They pulled her quickly to the ground, holding her down.

A loud scream came from her lips before the man behind her clamped his hand over her mouth.

"You're going to regret this fight you little bitch" the one in front of her sneered, her body was restrained all she could do was violently jerk around. One man was pinning down her arms, his knee coming down hard onto her right elbow. Immediately the pain shot through her. His weight continued to press down, further damaging the now very likely broken right arm. The other was using his body to hold down her legs. Her red hoodie was unzipped and he pushed it back to better reveal her breasts. He groped her chest, then he was slowly undoing his belt buckle.

She was still struggling frantically, the knife scratching the delicate skin on her neck and drawing a slow trickle of blood.

As hard as she tried she knew it would be up soon. Whatever nefarious deeds these men had planned would probably come to fruition; she was running out of energy. She didn't have enough physical strength, even with the adrenalin pumping through her.

She tried to scream again, the hand muffling her voice. She quickly licked the dirty thing, the smaller man pulling it back in disgust and surprise.

"what the..."

Taking the moment she screamed for help again, hoping someone would hear her and try to come to her aid.

"help- HEL" the second yell was cut off by the man clamping his hand down on her mouth again.

Panic was seizing her now, as the man in front of her put his hand up her dress and ripped the underwear up.

She struggled harder now, to no avail. The man in front of her was kneeling, pants down a sneer across his face.

She couldn't move her arms or legs, so even with every self-defense move she could think of there was nothing she could do.

Tears were coming down her face at this point, blurring her vision as she stared up, refusing to look at the man fat man who was about to violate her.

But it never came.

* * *

Murdock only had only half a second to glance out the second story window before the scene registered in his mind and he soundly jumped from it, hitting against the troll. The fat of the troll broke his fall, and the balding head hit the ground hard.

The other troll jumped up from the injured girl, thrusting the knife forward. Within Seconds Murdock had him disarmed, and slammed a metal garbage can lid hard into his face. He turned towards the girl, who was slowly struggling to her feet. Her body was shaking hard, injured arm cradled to her chest.

He stepped closer to her as she backed against the wall, eyes wide with fear.

"it's okay darlin. It's going to be okay" His southern drawl was strong.

"you need help. I'm not going to hurt you"

Somewhere the logical portion of her mind took control, ignoring the part to fight or run, and she stood still while he stepped closer to her looking at her arm in concern.

It was likely broken. Also she was shaking like a leaf, and most of the men on the ground were only temporarily disabled.

"we need to get you to a hospital"

Her eyes were swirling shades of different blues, and they looked into his.

"Hermes?" Her voice was dazed and she stepped closer to him.

"_where is the hospital_?" she asked him in Greek.

"_Just a few blocks away. Can you walk_?" he responded in like.

"I. I don't know. they. Oh god. They were. Why. I . " She had switched to English, and then promptly fainted.

He delicately swung her bridal style into his arms, careful not to bump her injured arm. Quickly he made his way to the hospital.

* * *

She woke up with a start, a block from the hospital.

Her body immediately tensed.

"shhh, shhhh it's okay. You're okay darlin', I've got you. No greasy trolls can harm you now little red riding hood"  
"_please don't leave me herme_s" she begged him. Back to Greek.  
"_of course not" he responded in the same language_.

He wasn't sure why he was Hermes. But then again he wasn't sure why little Red Riding Hood was being attacked by Trolls anyways so he guessed it would make just as much sense for Hermes to save her. Was she a traveler, herdsmen, or a thief though? Probably the first, though she had taken out two full grown men on her own with no weapons, and she couldn't weigh more than 120 pounds, so the last was always a possibility.

When they had arrived at the hospital she clung to him. Even when nurses insisted she had to let go so they could check her over. She downright refused, and had socked a male nurse quite firmly in the nose when he tried to give her a sedative.

"listen baby, they need to help you".

She nodded softly, and allowed the sedative and nurses to bustle about her, but didn't relinquish her grip on his tshirt. So she sat firmly planted in his lap while they examined her arm (which was definitely broken), and neck (which wasn't too bad, and would probably heal without even a scar). They sat in a chair beside the bed she was clearly supposed to be in. Her good arm clutched his tshirt, and his arm was around her, hand on her waist. She had buried her face in his chest, so all he could see of her was pretty auburn hair. They had removed her sweatshirt, and he couldn't quite tell now if she was snow-white or red riding hood. Either way she pressed against him trembling and he figured she needed a distraction.

He began to tell a story about his team, all in greek _"so anyways after that Bosco was so pissed that he couldn't find his razor that he was punching walls, so I naturally just pretended to still be knocked out in the bed. When he told hanibal I 'woke up' and_…"

She was slightly confused as to why he was speaking greek, had she started it? Was he really Hermes? She was dazed, and the sedative they had given her had confused her more so that any real distinction between literature and reality had become to blur greatly. She could feel the warmth of his arm around her though, and could feel his surprisingly well defined chest vibrate. Geek Gods she scoffed, always so well-toned.

"sir? Can she speak English" a nurse asked him confused?

"not sure. Can you speak English snow white?" she didn't respond. He asked the question again in greek.

Was she snow white? She wondered. Maybe he was the huntsman? But why were trolls attacking her and not an evil queen? Oh god she was confused.

"_yes. Of course I can. Why, can't you. Where are we_?" she asked in German, oblivious to the fact he had in fact asked the question and spoken to her primarily in English. Or that she had switched to yet another language.

_"the hospital_" he responded.

She nodded her head gently, in understanding.

"i-uh. We, we need to administer the rape kit now sir. We need to change her into a hospital gown, and you need to leave"

"I don't think they actually. I don't know."

"policy sir."

The girl, whose face was still firmly pressed into Murdocks shirt, began to rattle off in fast progression German.

"_no! don't leave me. please. I need you huntsman. don't leave me. I won't. Please. Don't let them touch me. Don't let the gremlins touch me"_

Murdock was unhappy they wanted him to leave the princess behind defenseless. On the other hand, it was for her modesty. He couldn't let a man see the princess in a state of undress!"

_"Please_" she had leaned back, those swirling blue eyes staring into his again. And with that he was powerless. She was the princess after all.

"She- she doesn't speak English!" If he was the huntsman he could be cunning to save her, though maybe he was only supposed to be lying to the evil queen. Ah well.

"do you have a translator"

"n-no sir. I, guess you can stay. If she says that you can."

"Good."

Then he directed his attention back to the trembling snow

"_you need to get on the bed, milady. They must check to ensure the trolls haven't hurt you._" It had been awhile since he had spoken German but he was in character in no time.

He held her hand awhile later, as they waited for the nurse to return to take the rape kit.

Her head was resting against the pillow, hair framing her small pale face. She certainly was the fairest maiden in all the lands.

"_lady Snow, where were you traveling_?" Murdock questioned her.

"the nursing home. Where is my backpack?"

To see her grandmother? Was snow white and little red riding hood one in the same? It made sense.

"by my feet. it's okay."

The nurse returned and Murdocks attention was firmly planted on Reds face, blocking her from looking at the nurse.  
_"you're okay. I promise it'll be okay. Hey. Little red you are missing your hood."_

He plucked his ball cap from the head and planted it firmly on hers.

_"thank you woodsman"_ she replied.

The nurse took no more than a few seconds, and backed away.

"you're done already?" Murdock questioned

"there was no need for the rape kit sir" and then more quietly "thank god too"

"how do you know that?" he questioned confused. Shouldn't they at least look?

"she, she is a virgin sir. There was definitely no penetration" she whispered quietly.

He stared down at the girl. He had pegged her around 22-26. She had a baby face, but the way she spoke wasn't that of a little girl. Yet, with that news, she was probably much, much younger. likely not even out of her teens.

"There isn't a wallet in her backpack sir, or debit cards. Do you know her name or how old she is?" The nurse questioned.

Why they hadn't requested this information much sooner was beyond him.

"_Little snow, what's your name?_" he questioned.

She hadn't been really listening to the previous conversation, the german snapping her out of her shock and drug induced haze.

_"my name?_" she asked softly. A few seconds later and she was out cold again.

This time she wasn't going to be waking up any time soon. Bosco had called and was currently yelling at him. They needed to leave. Murdocks twisted fairy tale was cut short as she tucked a curl behind the sleeping princesses ear. A moment of indecision and he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, and left his hat as he stealthily made his exit.


End file.
